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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

In 1972, a seed was planted in a young boy living in
Maryland. Watching the Winter Olympic games, he vowed that one day he would
become an Olympian himself. Young Elliot Weintrob never lost sight of that goal,
and after a lot of hard work, the dream was realized when he walked into the
Opening Ceremony in Barcelona in 1992.

Elliot was first introduced to kayaking when he was an eight
year old camper at Valley Mill Day Camp. While all of his friends amused
themselves with other sports, all Elliot wanted to do was stay in the boat. His
passion for kayaking was immediate, and it was obvious to all around him that he
had a talent.

Between the ages of eight and fifteen, Elliot was immersed in white
water kayaking and racing. He trained hard and rose to the top of the youth
ranks. Traveling the country to compete, he was winning national competitions
when he decided to take a break at the age of fifteen. During his hiatus from the
sport, he concentrated his efforts on high school football and traditional
teenage activities which included wooing girls and socializing.

As his senior year came to a close, Elliot was
pulled again by his love of the kayak. Upon graduation he moved to
California to teach
kayaking. He soon contacted his former coach and the pair began to
aggressively
train for his comeback.

In 1984 he was named to the National Development Team and
earned a position on the National Team in 1986. In 1988 an announcement was
made that changed the course of Elliot’s life: White Water Kayaking was going
to return to the Olympic roster for 1992.

Upon hearing the announcement he decided to dedicate the
next four years of his life to realizing his Olympic dream. The story goes that
Elliot informed his parents of his decision in a matter-of-fact manner by
walking into Harry’s office and saying, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m
going to be training for the next four years to go to the Olympics.” Without
missing a beat, Harry simply looked up from the ledger and said, “You’d better
make it then.”

Elliot devoted the next four years of his life to the
sport of white water slalom (kayaking) and moved to North Carolina to train
with other aspiring Olympians. As he recalls, he trained hard and had the time
of his life.

Despite setbacks, including his partner getting injured the
month before the Olympic trials, Elliot and his partner won the first Olympic
trial. The dream of being in the Olympics was realized, and Elliot prepared for
an amazing two weeks in Barcelona.

Speaking of the Olympic race today, Elliot admits that his team “didn’t
race as well as we could have.” He did not win a medal, but he did have an
incredible experience. He walked away from Barcelona with the pride of being an
Olympian and memories that he will always cherish.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

With Oscar Pistorius set to run in the Olympics on Saturday, the
controversy of the "unfair advantage" has hit a boiling point. It seems that forums and blogs are popping up everywhere supporting the prosthetic advantage theory. We firmly believe that these commentators are simply misinformed about the facts. We want to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

The controversy first came to light
several years ago when Oscar made his first bid at the Olympics. An
Olympic scientific committee was convened to examine the issue with
the findings initially seeming to confirm the "prosthetic advantage."
According to researchers, Pistorius' cheetah legs provided him with an
astounding 90% energy return, considerably higher than the purported 60%
by the intact human foot. Immediately the controversy of whether or not
carbon fiber prostheses sparked an unfair advantage hit a furious
speed.

Upon further examination, it was discovered that researchers involved
with the initial study failed to
cite the energy return of the human foot with an intact calf muscle
(which, in the case of Pistorius is obviously missing). The human foot,
with an intact calf muscle, has an energy return of 254%. All seem to
agree that a prosthesis
cannot provide more than 90% return due to energy lost due to
components. It was determined that the carbon fiber prostheses render
Pistorius with a 164% energy return deficit over his bi-legged
competitors. Although very good prosthetics, the technology does not
replace the muscle lost.

With the energy return theory debunked, many are citing
differences in oxygen expenditures as an unfair advantage. Naysayers rationalization that an amputee does not have to work as hard to walk
and move because the prosthesis does the work. Obviously these
individuals have never tried to walk on a prosthesis!

It
has long been accepted by authorities in the field that amputees have to
work harder to ambulate and to run. The body must compensate for the
lack of muscle and bone, putting more strain on the remaining
structures. According to research from the Amputee Research Centre, a
bilateral
below knee amputee (such as Oscar) expends a whopping 200% increase in
oxygen consumption to simply walk. Oscar uses more energy when walking
and running because of his prostheses, not less.

The fact remains
that on
Saturday morning, Oscar will take to the track and run because he has
earned his position, not because he has somehow cheated. Insinuating an
"amputee advantage" is insulting to every individual living with a limb
loss.
He has achieved Olympian status because of his will and his hard work,
not because of the carbon fiber and components in his prosthesis.